“This sounds really corny, but … music is created literally just in the moment,” Judd says in a phone call from the ranch near Nashville she shares with her husband of two years, drummer Michael “Cactus” Moser, her sister and her mother. “Something sparks. It’s a strange process.

Wynonna

“I try to explain it to people that we create something from nothingness, in terms of you just show up. Like a blind date with destiny. … I believe that coincidence is God’s way of keeping invisible, and I’ve lived 30 years on the road with this concept. I believe when you show up, miracles happen.”

Wynonna says musical miracles are happening again for her in a solo career that since 1992 has produced four gold and platinum albums and 20 charting singles. That followed eight years as The Judds with her mother, Naomi, in which they released seven albums, all platinum or gold, and 14 No. 1 hits.

Wynonna says she’s “halfway there” on a new album that would be her first since the 2009 disc of cover tunes “Sing: Chapter 1,” and first of mostly new music since 2003’s “What the World Needs Now is Love.”

In that telephone call, she spoke about the new album, her career so far, and what’s ahead.

Here’s a transcript of the call:

LEHIGH VALLY MUSIC: Hi Wynonna. How are you?

WYNONNA: “Mr. Moser ….”

[Laughs] Hey, belated welcome to the Moser clan [in June 2012, she married drummer Cactus Moser]

“Oh, I know. It’s added so much quality to my … or so much to my brand. It’s really increased my flow. [Laughs.]”

[Laughs] Well, listen, thank you for taking time out to speak with me today.

“My time is worth so much, I know.”

And the reason we’re talking is because you’re going to be playing our Sands Casino Event Center on June 28.

“I know – I’m getting tweets every day from people saying they’re planning their day around it.”

Where are you calling from?

“I’m calling from the farm. I live on a farm with my sister and my mother. Praise the Lord, we’re here and I’m working on the record; working on songs and I have over 40 animals and teenagers, and it’s just one big happy chaotic parade.”

OK, let me jump right into this now. Speaking of music that you’re working on – you have a new song, “Follow Me.” How did that come about? Where did it come from?

“Well, this sounds really corny, but it came from nothingness. You know, music is created literally just in the moment. You just – something sparks. It’s just like, you know, it’s a strange process. I try to explain it to people that we create something from nothingness, in terms of you just show up. Like a blind date with destiny. It’s a very strange thing, and it’s really simple at the same time.

Wynonna and husband Cactus Moser

“I believe that co-incidence is God’s way of keeping invisible, and I’ve lived 30 years on the road with this concept. I believe when you show up, miracles happen. So I signed on to do this insane thing called Hollywood television, and wind up doing ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ And while I was out there, I was putting in four hours a day, up to eight weeks at a time without a break. So I was upstairs in the apartment, icing, and my husband said, ‘I’m going to the gym,’ and next thing I know, he comes back and says, ‘I met this guy … he came over to me in the gym, he thought I was a vet or a military soldier and we ended up talking, and he’s a filmmaker, and I want to go see this film.’

“And the next day he went to a private screening of it, and came back, told me all about it. And the two words that stood out for me were ‘Follow Me.’ Because that’s fate; that’s what we all experience. If my mom said to me, ‘Follow me’ and took me by the hand, I would trust her to take me somewhere and just believe that I was going to make it.

“That’s the part in the film where it’s a really quick moment in the film, but you realize the complexity of it. I mean these guys follow their commander down into the pits of hell as their brother. And for me, it’s the most intense thing, just as a relationship and a commitment, and a loyalty that these guys have to their team.

“The movie is really intense, and there are lots of light-hearted moments as well, yet for me the message was, ‘Are you willing to put your life on the line for your brother? So the ‘Follow Me’ theme just became overwhelmingly obvious that’s what we would write about. And next thing I know, words are just flowing out of my husband and I, and the next thing I know we’re on ‘Good Morning America.’ So it’s an interesting concept of how creativity just comes along out of something so simple as my husband going to the gym. [Laughs]. It’s an insane and wonderful process.”

To me, the song sounds … it has a very bluesy edge to it. And I wondered where that came from.

“We just wanted to keep it simple. I think it’s … people are going to diagnose it, talk about the production of it. Honestly, we did it so simply and we wanted it to be raw. ‘Cause I’m from Appalachia, I’ve very drawn right now to my roots, more so than ever, having just had a birthday and just looking over my life and my ‘her-story,’ both musically and personally, I am really priding myself listening to those mournful sounds that I grew up, you know, those were my influences. I’m just drawn to the idea of this record being … we’re literally making it in ‘The Shed,’ we call it.

“ It’s this building that we put down by the lake and it does have one window air-conditioning unit and it’s just a building with electronics inside and a few chairs. I mean, there’s nothing fancy about it. I’ve recorded in the past in these million-dollar, by-the-hour studios that get from Garth Brooks to Dolly Parton, and these fabulous, Music Row studios that have quite the history, from Elvis to George Jones. And so, recording out here, it just feels more authentic, I think. I mean, Cactus literally goes out onto the deck and pees off the deck ‘cause there’s no bathroom [laughs]. And it’s just real simple and there’s nothing on the windows and it’s just amazing what can happen when you get back down to your roots and your beginning. So we’re just drawn to that simple sound.”

So where are you as far as other new music? Do you have an album …

“Halfway there. You know, the glass is half full and people keep asking me, ‘When can we expect it?’ And I’m like, ‘When it’s done.’And it’s a wonderful, mysterious process. We literally go into prayer, we open up the gates, and songs come in the most mysterious ways. I’ve always marveled at the way that this happens. Like any prayer, you sort of pray it and you sit back, you wait and next thing you know, somebody’s calling you that you haven’t talked to in 10 years and they say, ‘I’ve got a song for you that’s perfect for you.’

“I’ve got some really wacky, crazy songs that people are going to go, ‘What the heck has she done? She’s losing her mind in her mid life. She’s gone to the other side.’ [Laughs] I’m just excited, ‘cause this sound is so different, and it’s due greatly to my husband, Michael Scott Moser, AKA ‘Cactus.’ He’s quite a character. This morning we woke up and I just said, ‘You know, I married a cartoon character’ because he’s so animated. And he’ll come in like a kid and say, ‘Honey, I found the weirdest song.’ And he’ll play it for me, and I don’t know why – I’m not even on drugs, I’m not drinking [laughs]. I’m actually pretty sober, and I love it. And he’ll just look at me like, ‘I know – what can we get away with next?’

“And that’s what the record is – a complete collection of ‘What can we get away with?’ It’s not arrogant; it’s just a confidence and a joy that I think can happen in a marriage, in a job when you re-establish your faith in your gift. I’ve been doing this 30-plus years, you know? You’d think you’re in a place of coasting or auto-pilot, but quite frankly the opposite, due to marrying Cactus two years ago.

“We laugh at the fact that we’re somewhere between Sonny and Cher and Bonnie and Clyde. We just take risks; we’re not afraid to fail. The process is, as you know, you never know what’s going to work and what’s not, so we owe it to ourselves to stay true to our beliefs, and that’s what we’re doing. And the rest is none of our business. We just put it out there and see what happens and who relates.”

And speaking of that, last year you had the single “Something You Can’t Live Without.” What was the idea behind that – just to get something out?

“No, I was madly in love and insanity had set in and I was in the process of writing and that just kind of flew out of my head. And it’s about, basically, I’m telling Cactus I’m something you can’t live without. I was feeling very feisty and sassy and quite full of myself. I’ve known Cactus since I was 20, and we were attempting to date and I was just feeling my oats, and I just basically said, ‘Look, you’re gonna miss me when I’m gone.’

“We were just starting to talk on the phone and, next thing you know, we were using the words and putting it in a song. And we did because mom and I were taping a TV show and it was Oprah’s request that I write song for her. And Cactus and I started writing that, and then next thing I know we start writing this song as well and it just happened to fit in one big explosion – musical celebration.”

Somewhere along the line I read that you had recorded duets with Colt Ford and Willie Nelson. Is that stuff in the works? Is it ever going to come out?

“It’s done – it’s already been done, and I marvel at the fact that – you know, I worked with Willie back when I was a teenager, and here I am all these years later, and he’s 80 and he’s still cranking them out. It’s like, ‘Whoa, this is history and this is part of the country music family. It’s like a family reunion every time I get with these guys and these women that I grew up both working with and opening for, and here I am doing a duet with Willie. It’s pretty weird, but it makes sense, of course, just based on my earning a place next to him at the mic.

“I didn’t expect the Colt Ford thing. He sought me out, and I thought, ‘What the heck?’ I’m at the point in my career where I just don’t worry as much and I don’t fret about fitting in. And I spend more time and energy on enjoying myself.

And Colt and I – he’s the most unlikely character. Colt would not be someone I would really know unless my children said something to me, ‘cause I wouldn’t really know who he is. I don’t really watch TV and I don’t pay attention to a lot. I try – but I will admit, being a mom and a wife and a farmer, I get very busy. And Colt literally is so different from what I do, yet when we got in the room at the studio, neither one of us could stop talking. And we became really good friends, and he’s very dear -- and somewhat misunderstood, probably, at times, because he can get a little rough around the edges. Yet he’s got a real tender heart. Man, I just showed up to see what would happen; I think that’s what I do an awful lot of. You just don’t know until you get there. It’s like a blind date.”

Nice position to be in in your career.

“Well it is because, I think what’s really … It’s a good thing we’re doing these interviews now, because I just finished with a pretty heavy – I call them sort of spiritual summits, where I sit down with all my team, my dream team, and we all sit down and we sort of take out the map and see where we’re going.

Wynonna, right, with mother Naomi as The Judds

And we were sort of trying to get a temperature and a read on where we’re at, what we’re doing and what we want, and do we want to make an attempt to try to do [the festival] Bonnaroo next year and are we interested in the Jimmy Fallon show when the record comes out? And we’re just talking about stuff, you know? This idea – it’s like a think tank. You know, you just go, try to figure out what’s our plan, what’s our strategy?

“And you know? I didn’t have one. I just said, ‘You know what guys? I want more than anything, because of what we’ve been through in the last two years, I just want to enjoy myself, and if I get paid for it, that’s freaking awesome. ‘Cause I did so much. I’m on the phone the other day with [stock car driver] Darrell Waltrip and we’re talking about NASCAR, and I’m like, ‘Oh my gosh!’ [Laughs] And my brother-in-law [sister Ashley Judd’s husband Dario Franchitti] just retired from winning Indy three times. And it’s just a weird, crazy, wonderful, wacky life. I just go with it.

“And it’s such a great place as you do get older. And you’ll feel this yourself as you get older as a writer – you don’t just sit around and make decisions based on fear. You really take it on faith, and it’s such a shift in your conscientiousness that it’s a pleasure to wake up in the morning and instead of going, ‘Oh my god,’ being so reactionary, you can wake up and say, ‘Good morning, God, ‘and be proactive. It’s a different mindset.”

You mentioned a couple of things that I wanted to come back to. First of all, you hit the Big 5-0 this year.

And this year, it’s probably, like, you’ve been solo twice as long as you were in The Judds. And I’m just wondering, with that perspective, what that feels like?

“Um, surreal, quite frankly. Because, for instance, we just finished – and I still call it Fan Fair, but it’s now been changed to CMA [Country Music Association] Fest -- and I think I’m in my 30th year of doing it”

Wow.

“Yeah, exactly. I’m now looking at second and third generations of Judd Heads. Um, it’s an interesting thing, and it’s like this: I know my roots, I’m constantly reminded of where I come from because of the music I’m doing every night, paying homage to my ‘her-story’ musically and yet there is a sense of great relief that I’ve sort of crossed the finish line.

“I definitely had a goal when I first started out solo. I was in such a state of mourning and grieving the loss of my partnership with mom, but I had a really interesting beginning. Historically, I did make history musically. Personally, I was shaking in my boots, trying to figure out, ‘What the heck am I going to do?’ And here we are, how many years later, and I’m going – ‘I cannot ...’ There’s part of me that marvels at the fact that I made it, and then there’s part of me that goes, ‘Oh, I’m just merely fulfilling my destiny.’ It’s a very strange balance between the fantasy and the reality. I’ve had big dreams all my life, and yet when they happen I’m kind of surprised. It’s a interesting thing. I have a lot of faith, yet I wake up and go, ‘Oh.’

“Like for instance, last night I got an e-mail from my manager, and I’m laying in bed and I’m getting ready to go to sleep, and I’m reading this and I’m texting Ann Wilson [from Heart]. We’ve got a write-up in the new issue of Rolling Stone division here in Nashville – I just started – and they did an article about my singing with Ann and how we are sort of the – you know, we’re like pioneer women, we’ve been around for a long time and yet we can still … The way that they wrote the article, it was like the greatest affirmation, both personally an professionally, that a woman can get. And I thought, ‘I’m going to save this and read it every day.’ [Laughs] Definitely a ‘Girls Kick Ass’ interview-sort-of-style. It’s their take on a ‘Crossroads’ [program] that I did with the Heart sisters [Ann and Nancy Wilson] and it talks about how Nancy and Ann and I just kicked the big you-know-what. And I thought, ‘That’s so interesting because when it first happened, I think they were surprised to see a country artist join with a rock ‘n’ roll act, and it became one of their biggest shows in the ‘Crossroads’ history.

“So for me, my point being is I’m laying here in bed, and I’m going, ‘Oh my gosh, I grew up …’ I remember being 16 and going to see them in concert. I just marvel at the fact that I keep getting away with this stuff. And then they said,’ Wynonna stands toe-to-toe with Ann and she pulled it off.’

“So I figured out how to show up and act like I know what I’m doing. [Laughs]. It’s great. Seriously, you feel like you’re getting away with something.”

Congratulations. Hey, do you ever foresee doing anything as The Judds again?

“I don’t know. I just don’t know. I go back and forth and … this is my pat answer, which is ‘The door is open, and the minute that I know, I’ll know.’ And until then, I have a life to live and I’m just not defined by that constant going back and forth. It’d be like you going back home. It’s like, ‘Do I want to go back and live with my parents or not?’ I’m serious, it’s that simple for me – it’s a matter of if and when I want to.”

[She talks her husband off the phone] “Excuse me, I’m talking to the other Moser in my life.”

Hey Wynonna, they told me to keep [the call] to 20 minutes and we’re at about there now.

“I don’t care, ‘cause we’re having fun. We’ll keep going till you get what you need.”

OK. [Laughs] I’ll ask about ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ What was that like?

“It’s probably the toughest thing I’ve ever done, and I learned a great lesson about taking chances and learning about what you don’t want as well as realizing what you can do. In a situation that’s very hard both mentally and physically, it was absolutely Whoo! I just know it was like a marathon. It was like training for the Olympics. It was just too much of a good thing. It was absolute overstimulation every single day, constant pushing. My adrenal glands were just screaming. ‘Noo, stop! It’s too much.’

“Cause it’s literally 5-4-3-2-1 applaud. It was like the circus. It was just so intense, and it was every day. Every day, it was like a parade, a wedding and a family reunion, because all of us were really close. And then, ‘I know … we get to be in competition, and then we get to get judged. And then wardrobe fitting, and then it’s rehearsal, and then it’s an interview and then it’s just so much. And then I went … ‘It’s over. Wow.”

“And I’m on a plane back home, and I’m thinking, ‘God.’ The very first night I was back on stage, I think I even said the to the audience, ‘Thank you, God, for saving me and sending me back to where I belong because I’m home; I’m back where I need to be.

“It was a really interesting experience and I learned a lot about my strengths and my weaknesses and I got to do it in front of 20 million people. But I did it and you know what? [Laughs] I survived, which is a miracle.”

Those are my questions. Is there anything that I missed?

“I don’t think so. But I’m such an ongoing saga, it could be anything. But I think you got what you needed, my brother.”

JOHN J. MOSER has been around long enough to have seen the original Ramones in a small club in New Jersey, U2 from the fourth row of a theater and Bob Dylan's born-again tours. But he also has the number for All-American Rejects' Nick Wheeler on his cell phone, wrote the first story ever done on Jack's Mannequin and hung out in Wiz Khalifa's hotel room.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS

JODI DUCKETT: As The Morning Call's assistant features editor responsible for entertainment, she spends a lot of time surveying the music landscape and sizing up the Valley's festivals and club scene. She's no expert, but enjoys it all — especially artists who resonated in her younger years, such as Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, Tracy Chapman, Santana and Joni Mitchell.

KATHY LAUER-WILLIAMS enjoys all types of music, from roots rock and folk to classical and opera. Music has been a constant backdrop to her life since she first sat on the steps listening to her mother’s Broadway LPs when she was 2. Since becoming a mother herself, she has become well-versed on the growing genre of kindie rock and, with her son in tow, can boast she has seen a majority of the current kid’s performers from Dan Zanes to They Might Be Giants.

STEPHANIE SIGAFOOS: A Jersey native raised in Northeast PA, she was reared in a house littered with 8-tracks, 45s and cassette tapes of The Beatles, Elvis, Meatloaf and Billy Joel. She also grew up on the sounds of Reba McEntire, Garth Brooks and Tim McGraw and can be found traversing the countryside in search of the sounds of a steel guitar. A fan of today's 'new country,' she digs mainstream/country-pop crossovers like Lady Antebellum and Sugarland and other artists that illustrate the genre's diversity.